Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) had its target price increased by Canaccord Genuity from $126.00 to $135.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, BenzingaRatingsTable reports. Canaccord Genuity currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AZPN. Bank of America restated a neutral rating and set a $136.00 price target (up previously from $130.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $155.00 price target (up previously from $146.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and issued a $152.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Aspen Technology from $131.00 to $123.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, ValuEngine lowered Aspen Technology from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Aspen Technology has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $134.57.

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Shares of Aspen Technology stock traded down $2.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $122.54. 484,156 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 428,917. The firm has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 20.18 and a beta of 1.59. Aspen Technology has a 52-week low of $74.84 and a 52-week high of $142.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.51.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The technology company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $195.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.71 million. Aspen Technology had a return on equity of 60.30% and a net margin of 43.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, CFO Karl E. Johnsen sold 2,972 shares of Aspen Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.80, for a total transaction of $406,569.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,150 shares in the company, valued at $3,030,120. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 3.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,877,106 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $481,849,000 after buying an additional 141,490 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 4.9% in the second quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 12,242 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 175.0% in the second quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,122 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 2.6% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,072,554 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $754,697,000 after buying an additional 155,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 308.9% in the second quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 9,335 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after buying an additional 7,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.45% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Company Profile

Aspen Technology, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an asset optimization software company in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Subscription and Software, and Services. It supplies asset optimization solutions that optimize asset design, operations, and maintenance lifecycle in various industrial environments.